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Half an hour later, Kase and I sit at the old wooden table, studying the house and the surrounding area. “How are we going to work this?”
I sit back and the unsteady chair creaks under my weight. This isn’t the shittiest place I’ve stayed, but it’s damn near close. “If I didn’t have something to get back to, I’d let the fucker suffer a little longer.” He chuckles and nods. “It’s his lucky day. But I want this to be clean. In and out. Let’s keep watch tomorrow and hope a window of opportunity opens up.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Sydney
I bite down on the fabric shoved in my mouth that wraps around my head, preventing me from screaming. I swallow back the saliva pooling in my mouth. My hands and feet have ropes around them and are tied to a dining room chair. They immediately blindfolded me so I wasn’t able to make out who they are, but I know one of them is a woman. She whimpered when my foot connected to her stomach as I was fighting them off. A lot of good that did.
They’ve been quiet or not here because the longer I sat in silence, the harder it was to stay awake. When I hear voices, it pulls me out of the light sleep state I’m in. They rip the blindfold off my head and I wince as a few strands of hair go with it.
I meet my captor’s eyes in utter surprise.
Shanna and Brett?
I wrack my brain at how these two ended up together. I haven’t seen Shanna since the night I passed out on stage and it was obvious she didn’t care for me, but this is a whole new level of hate. Why would she do this? Has it been them all along? The texts? The chocolate? And why is Brett involved? He’s always been one of the nicest guys that work for Jude. None of this makes sense.
A couple streaks of light shine on the carpet between the gaps of the heavy curtains. Glancing at the clock on the wall, I see it’s eight in the morning. If only I could somehow signal to Stone or Hudson that something is wrong. I know they’re right outside.
“Should we wait for him to show up?” Brett asks. I nod my head without thinking. I assume they’re talking about Max and I smile inwardly knowing how much pain he’s going to cause them. Brett lets out a wicked laugh. “Oh, you think he’s Superman?” His tone is sharp, so different from his normal laid back voice. “Wait and see what happens when we have his kryptonite.” He points at me and picks up a syringe from the coffee table that separates us, filled with a white liquid.
I blink back the tears forming, regret that I wished Max was here stings my heart. One man I loved died, I won’t survive if something happens to Max because of me. Brett puts the liquid back on the table and stands up, skirting around the table. Towering over me, he grips my hair, jerking my head back so I’m looking up at him. “Maybe I’ll have a little fun with you first.” I shake my head, jerking out of his grip.
“Excuse me,” Shanna snaps, shooting up off the couch. “What the hell are you talking about? Fun?” She slaps him on the arm and then glares at me for a moment before whipping her glacier stare back at him. “Why would you even say that?”
He holds his hands up and smiles. “I was just kidding, babe. You’re the only girl I want to have fun with.” He pulls her into a hug but glances over her shoulder, flashing a twisted smile. My stomach rolls in disgust.
She pushes out of his hug and stands between him and I. “Well, get back to work. Make sure the tracker on his car is still working.” The irritation in her voice is a relief. She’s still pissed and right now, she might be the only thing preventing something bad from happening to me. She spins around. “Don’t think I’m on your side,” she sneers as if reading my thoughts, getting close to my face. I breathe in a blast of strawberry scent from her gum. “He’s my man. You might have stolen my career, but I’ll be damned if you’ll steal my man.”
Stole her career?
Is that what this is about? Revenge for her not getting a record deal? Moxi decides now is a good time to hop in my lap. She stares at Shanna.
“Isn’t your cat cute? It’s like a little leopard.” She reaches down to pet her and before she can touch the orange-spotted cat, Moxi hisses and attacks Shanna’s hand. Shanna screams and Moxi sprints out of the room. My eyes widen as I notice blood dripping down her slender white arm. “Go shoot that bastard,” she screeches as she darts to the kitchen.
“Would you shut up? Do you want to get caught?”
“Her cat probably gave me rabies,” she whines.
I wish. I glance in my bedroom and spot Moxi’s eyes glowing at me from under the bed. I try to smile. Good girl. When I get out of this, you get tuna every day.
Brett and Shanna come and go, disappearing into my guest bedroom for the next couple hours. “Why hasn’t his car moved?” Shanna says to Brett, looking over his shoulder as they walk into the living room again. “You said he couldn’t stay away from her.”
“I don’t know, woman. Get off my back,” he snaps. Her fists draw up and she shifts her angry glare to meet the back of his head. “He’ll be here,” he spins around, meeting her glare, then walks to the kitchen.
They argue in the kitchen. I lean my head, attempting to catch their heated argument, something I could use later against them. What the hell am I doing? Focus on getting out of here, Sydney. I twist my hands, hoping to free at least one. The ropes dig into my wrists. Between watching them out of the corner of my eyes and twisting my wrists and legs, I don’t notice that I’m moving the chair until one of its legs get stuck on the carpet.
Oh, shit. Shit. Shit.
My cheek slams against the floor from the chair tipping over. I grunt through my gag as the pain radiates from my shoulder to my head. Shit, that freaking hurt. Black Nike’s step an inch from my nose and I glance up to a shit-eating grin on Shanna’s face.
She squats down. “Going somewhere?” I used to like her voice. She’s an incredible singer. Now, I’d rather hear a five-year-old attempt to play the violin. “You’re better on the floor anyway like the rat you are. You should have crawled back in the hole you came out of.” When she flips her hair, I notice her chewed fingernails and I wonder if planning my demise has been eating at her. Could she be feeling trapped because Brett is making her do this?
I rest my aching head against the rough beige carpet. She paces in front of the couch where Brett is sitting. Tears run down the side of my face. “I’m sorry, babe,” Brett murmurs, stopping her and pulling her into his lap. She leans into his body, her eyelids close as his hands massage her arms. I glance up and meet Brett’s glare. “I only want you.” He whispers into her ear, but his eyes stay pinned on me. She hums as his hands rub her neck. “You need to relax, we’ll be here awhile.” His hands move down over her shoulders and end up squeezing her breasts. They sit in the only line of sight I have so I squeeze my eyes shut. My being here doesn’t deter him, he has no intention of stopping. I think about something else to drown out the sound of her tiny whimpers, but instead of fading away, they intensify in my head.
The sound of a zipper surprises me, so I open my eyes. She’s not going to have sex in front of me, is she? Can’t she see he’s playing her? He bites down on his lip when he has my attention. His hand moves inside her pants and she moans out one time.
I mutter through my gag for them to stop, but it comes out a strangled sound. Maybe it’ll pull her out of the trance he has her under. “That’s it,” he rasps, moving his fingers in and out of her. “You know you want this.” He winks at me. His words aren’t meant for her. They’re for me. “That’s it, babe, ride my fingers. Show her what it’s like to be with me. Make her beg for me like you do.”
